Special features that tourists often mention after a backpack Myanmar

People in Myanmar are kind and harmonious. They live with their religion and enjoy the peace. They always think that “rather being beggars than being robbers.”

Apart from the custom of eating betel, the Burmese, no matter what age, often apply some powder of Thanakha tree on their faces to be sun-proof. This interesting feature is described in many Myanmar travel blogs.

Men in Myanmar wear sandals, mostly flip-flops, even if they are about to attend a wedding ceremony and putting on a suit. Only officials and police men wear shoes.

The traditional drink of Myanmar is milk tea, a kind of bland tea mixed with fresh milk and honey. The drinks are very suitable for tourists on a backpack Myanmar.

Because the electric power over the country is very weak, hotels and restaurants in Myanmar often use their own generators. Markets are opened from 9h but closed right from 16h every day because there will be no electricity from 17h. At night, there are quite few activities for recreation in Myanmar. You can only see some cafes, shops and stores for milk tea or junk food. Especially, there is no shopping mall or pub to go at night.

Wedding ceremonies are also Myanmar highlights, often held from early morning until lunch. There is a special part which receives gifts from the guests and opens the envelopes to count money before they note the name of the guest in a notebook. The bride and groom only open their gifts.

In all families, women are underestimated and they have to work and serve their husbands. When they wash clothes, they need to separate male stuff to female stuff.

There are many pagodas having hundreds-long Buddhist statues and become top Myanmar tourist attractions. In some cases, there are even statues which weigh thousands tons with gems and jewels, so the people here have to sculpture these statues before building pagodas.

Approaching the pagoda gates, tourists are asked to put off their shoes and sandals to walk inside on their bare feet. There is even no exception for country head leaders. The security guards in religious structures in special occasions such as festivals or holidays also need to comply with the rule.

There is also a fee for keeping shoes. Even if you visit pagodas alone for a backpack Myanmar or in group, it costs you 1,000 kyats (about 2,000 dong). Instead, you can also choose to buy a bag and take your shoes along when walking inside the pagodas with the same price.

You are advised to visit Burmese pagoda in early morning or late in the afternoon so that your feet will not be burned when walking around the pagoda. You should also carry along wet towels to swab your feet after the visiting.

In Burmese pagodas or temple, they do not burn incenses but using candles outside of the main chancel. Buddhists can eat or relax, even hold some musical activities inside pagodas. However, tourists who wear too short or thin clothes are not allowed to walk inside pagodas, but they have to buy more clothes which are sold outside. This is a notable thing for tourists to join in any Myanmar trekking tours.

Monks in Myanmar do not manage the work in pagodas, but that focus on restoring and learning in monasteries, where contains thousands of people such as Kyat Khat Wine.

Monks go out for alms every day and eat foods just like normal people. The basic differences are they do not eat after midday (12 o’clock), they do not kill animal for meat, do not gather in a crowded area, do not use perfume and cosmetic, and do not communicate or get close to women. A local rough guide in Burma can tell you tremendous things about their customs, especially things related to religion. Monasteries are places to teach life skills for children in Myanmar, and also are places where adolescents have to go for learning before their mature. In the summer, there are often ceremonies held to admit young boys in pagodas to learn.

The mere world heritage at the moment in Myanmar is Pyu city states, in which includes the relic Kanbawza Thadi in Bago (first century B.C to ninth century A.D), inscribed by UNESCO in 2014. Besides, there is no other relic or natural structures to be inscribed as world heritage in this religious country. However, there are still a lot of Myanmar sites for tourists to explore during their trips.

In Yangon, motorbikes are banned to travel along the roads, so there are only cars which run on the right of streets. Taxies only run by turn with dealt price; there is still no price-counting clock equipped on cars. Coaches for tourists have doors on their left. They often pick passengers up and down right on the street, which make it inconvenient for commuters, a Myanmar travel warning for any tourist. Therefore, Burmese guides often stand right in the door of their coaches to make ways for their passengers and keep them safe.

Although having just developed recently, in Yangon city, there have been many traffic jams. The good things are people do not in bad mood. They keep the discipline, do not honk and spend spaces for pedestrians. The avenues are broad. Motorbikes do not run in the mid lane but only on the two side lands (either the right or the left). Current law in Myanmar has not forced motor bikers, even in a backpack Myanmar to wear helmets. Besides, Myanmar has “trisaw”, a kind of innovated bike to help more people transport.

Cables have not been run in Myanmar, although there are many pagodas and temples built on mountains. People here often use buses or cars to help them get to high places for tourism or pagoda visits. Besides, there are also services with low Myanmar travel cost providing pallets for tourists. There are four men for a pallet to carry a person. The pallet is made of bamboo; its diameter varies from 10 to 15 centimeters. Personal stuff and even children are carried on the backs or on the heads of the hired porters.

Burmese people follow the custom of cremation, but they do not take the ashes to worship or bring into pagodas. When there are funerals in a family, they use common trunks prepared by aided agencies. The dead bodies are not kept for long. They burn the bodies only, not the trunks. Furthermore, there is no feast for dead people because Burmese people think that the death is a new start for the people in another world.

There are too many interesting and singular features to learn about Myanmar people and burmese culture. Besides the natural beauty attraction, there are also unforgettable impressions for tourists in a backpack Myanmar about the custom and the practice of a totally different country for any visitor once coming to visit Myanmar.